Letters, March 19

Conflicts … and concerns

I read your March 13 article Conflict and concern with interest until I reached the comments attributed to Laila Chebib. At that point I was shocked and deeply disturbed.

Describing the nation of the Jewish people as “like a cancer” is not criticism or debate. It is dehumanizing language. Over the years this kind of rhetoric has been used to demonize and delegitimize Jews by portraying them as something diseased or malignant that must be removed. Words like these carry a dangerous legacy and should not appear in a reputable newspaper. Period.

Ms. Chebib grew up in Syria, where hostility toward Jews and toward the nation of the Jewish people has long been embedded in political messaging, media, and education. In such an environment these ideas are often repeated from childhood in schools, public discourse, and state media until they begin to feel acceptable.

That background may help explain how someone could speak this way about an entire people. But it does not excuse it.

What is even more troubling is that the Free Press chose to publish these remarks without challenge or context, especially at a time when crimes motivated by hatred against Jews have reached some of the highest levels seen in decades. Responsible journalism requires judgment. Newspapers should not provide a platform for rhetoric that dehumanizes an entire people.

If another minority group had been described in such terms, it is difficult to imagine that the comments would have appeared without editorial concern. The same standard should apply here.

The Free Press plays an important role in shaping the tone of public conversation in our city. It should exercise greater responsibility and ensure that its pages are not used to normalize language that reduces the nation of the Jewish people to a cancer.

Winnipeg deserves better.

Yolanda Papini-Pollock

Winnipeg

I read with concern the interview with Yosef Benarroch in the story Conflict and concern, March 13.

Mr. Benarroch expresses “war was inevitable,” and “it was probably better to attack now.”

These are of course political opinions.

They however are a rationalization for the waging of aggressive war in contravention of the UN Charter, and in the absence of imminent attack.

The UN Charter arose in the ashes of world war and prohibitions against state adventurism by way of aggressive war.

There are other voices in the Jewish community, voices for peace and not in favour of aggressive war. None were interviewed in the article.

Norman Rosenbaum

Winnipeg

Time for review

As a long-time donor and Winnipeg taxpayer, I feel compelled to speak out about the troubling state of our local non-profit sector.

While the demand for services has never been greater — with homelessness, food insecurity, and mental-health needs stretching resources to the breaking point — far too many of our charitable dollars and public funds are being undermined by internal power struggles and sector politics.

The recent turmoil at Siloam Mission, one of Winnipeg’s largest and most visible organizations, has dragged these problems into the spotlight.

From everything that has surfaced, it appears the board has begun treating the mission less like a community service and more like a personal fiefdom. Instead of focusing on those who rely on its programs, the organization seems consumed by internal battles.

As someone who has donated regularly, I feel genuinely betrayed. My contributions — and those of thousands of other Winnipeggers — were meant to help people on the streets, not to fund boardroom drama.

This is not an isolated incident.

Last year’s controversy surrounding mobile outreach funding raised similar red flags, with allegations of political favouritism and backroom deals.

Meanwhile, both the province and the City of Winnipeg continue to lean heavily on these non-profits, outsourcing essential services that taxpayers expect to be delivered with transparency and accountability.

The question that now hangs over every donation receipt and every budget line is simple: Are our tax dollars and charitable gifts actually in safe hands?

Compounding the problem is a culture of mutual back-scratching across the sector. Too many organizations appear more interested in protecting one another’s reputations and funding streams than in delivering measurable results for the community.

The result is painfully clear: despite millions of dollars flowing through the system every year, we are not seeing the meaningful, lasting impact Winnipeggers deserve.

Enough is enough.

It is time for a full, independent sector-wide inquiry into Winnipeg’s non-profit organizations.

Donors and taxpayers have a right to know how every dollar is spent, who is making the decisions, and whether conflicts of interest are being properly managed. Without real answers and real accountability, we risk allowing a handful of individuals to treat public money and charitable donations as their personal piggy banks.

The people of Winnipeg — both those who give and those who need help—deserve far better.

John Smith

Winnipeg

Try walking

Re: “What about drivers?” Letters, March 14

As I write this, I am trying very hard to not let my rage spill out into this letter.

I strongly encourage letter writer John Mackinnon to get out of his car, and take a walk, a cycle or a bus once in a while.

Then he will notice how often pedestrians and cyclists have to be ultra-vigilant while proceeding in their own right of way.

At least once a day, a driver cuts me off in what is clearly my signal to proceed. The city does not spend nearly enough money to keep pedestrians and cyclists safe. Talk to bus drivers and they will back me up on this.

Drivers need to worry less about their ball joints and pay more attention to the needs of those who choose not to drive.

Lee-Anne Penner

Winnipeg

Stop the hunt

Re: Proposed quarry threatens Manitoba’s bear cub rescue, operator says, March 13

The cubs who arrive at Black Bear Rescue have already endured enough trauma.

Many are the collateral damage of Manitoba’s spring bear “hunt” which is akin to shooting fish in a barrel, but takes much less talent. Bait stations containing calorie dense, fatty foods are set up to attract bears who are in a state of semi-starvation following hibernation so that very brave “hunters” can shoot down on them from stands in the trees above.

It is illegal to target females but, every year, mother bears are killed. The resulting orphans are doomed to die slow, painful deaths due to starvation, exposure or predation.

Some of the less unlucky ones will end up at Black Bear Rescue to be rehabilitated for eventual release back into the wild. It costs tens of thousands of donated dollars annually to do so.

Until it makes the compassionate decision to end this unethical “hunt,” the province should be covering those costs since it is government policy that leads to cubs being orphaned.

Debbie Wall

Winnipeg